Houston In The 1980s

[nate4l1f3]

On 4/7/2017 at 10:28 AM, kbates2 said:

Still wish those buildings weren't demolished for another parking garage.  Sitting outside at Honeymoon almost feels like a full historic district outside of that garage.  At least they put in retail and a little effort to make it blend.

Any pictures of what was there before? I always wondered when and HOW that garage was allowed to be built.  Before I used to visit this site I always looked at that garage as out of place. Was there backlash on here compared to the other garages being built close to Market Square?

[gmac]

 

Interior of the bank from UH archives

<img src="http://digital.lib.uh.edu/contentdm/image/standard/p15195coll16/231/500/320/15.051173991571/0/0/0/0" alt="" />

 

 

Also a short story about the demolition on p2 of this report -- http://offcite.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/1983/09/EasementDownTheRoad_Barna_Cite4.pdf

Edited April 18, 2017 by gmac
added info

[dhc122]

Club Land. A short-lived, super packed, ginormous dance club. Anyone remember how long it lasted?

[ThisKindredSpirit]

Hi all - cant help but jump in on this convo - I was born in Houston but grew up in the Richmond/Rosenberg area for much of my life...in fact, I still live here (I tried getting away, but with the business my hubby is in - engineering - Houston is the only lucrative place). But I was a teen/young adult in her 20s in the '80s and we frequently came into Houston. These are the things I remember loving about Houston in the 80s

 

(I have more than ten)

 

1. THE RESTAURANTS. Im not kidding - when I graduated high school and left the area to go to school in San Marcos, I felt as if Id gone into a foodie desert - I hadnt realized just how DIVERSE Houston was in regards to restaurants and entertainment venues until I went else where. San Marcos had maybe 2 or 3 restaurants that catered to the college crowd. I didnt get familiar with Austin too much but I think they were slightly better...but nowhere NEAR as good as Houston in choices and quality. Although I still have yet to find a Chinese restaurant in Houston that will equal or beat the hot & sour soup served at the Chinese place in San Marcos. But that was the 80s...doubt its still there.

 

2. Cody's - In college, came to an appreciation of Jazz. (Sidebar - Houston produced one of the more famous 80s jazz artists, Kirk Whalum) Cody's was on top of a 10 story building overlooking the city and it became a FAV place for me and my fiance to hang out. There was also an African art gallery on the first floor that I eventually ended up working for a few months (long story). I was really sad when they changed over to that other place now. Jazz died an ignominious death because of commercialism, elitism, and rap. Which is really sad. Houston Jazz was such a neat thing. Made me feel like the city had a more complex identity after the Urban Cowboy thing (not that theres anything wrong with the Urban Cowboy thing. I liked it too)

 

3. Astroworld - didnt get to go as often as I would have liked, but I liked it and remember going when people were still civilized. Toward the end it got filled with rude and ugly people and somehow I always ended up feeling like I got cheated out of something that used to be so simple and fun. 

 

4. The malls Sharpstown (Dream Merchants), Westwood (with its pretty little fountains and Olga's restaurant), and Meyerland, which is more a childhood nostalgia trip than any place that I liked being. It was looking pretty shabby and worn by the 80s. I was definitely a mall rat from the suburbs. 

 

5. The Strawberry Patch - my parents loved that place! I wasnt keen on omelets at the time, but I wish it was still around now. Too many franchises around now.)

 

6. Cactus Music - my then fiance loved that place!!

 

7. Rockefellers - more jazz related - hubby and I had our first date there (Kirk Whalum was playing). I know its still open and giving shows but it seems to have lost a lot of its flair. 

 

8. I remember going to the San Jacinto Inn more in the 70s when I was a child, but I also remember the restaurant. Monument Inn is *ok* but man what a loss.

 

9. Someone mentioned the Old Christmas Store - I remember that place too!! Mom would take us in there when she felt creative.

 

10. Anyone else remember Westbury Square? I know by the 80s it wasnt quite as popular as it had been and was getting quite run down, but I was good friends with some of the people who used to be a part of Company Onstage, and Mom loved going to Tuesday Morning there. I would go sit out by the fountain while she shopped. I thought the place was magical and it holds a very special place in my memory. Imagine my horror when I came across pictures of the Home Depot in its place and that lovely fountain now a broken pile of rubble. 

 

11. I know some on here expressed disdain about the Astrodome, but I have a lot of childhood memories attached to that place. I dont think anyone can understand just how AWESOME the place looked to a kid. Going to see a game was a lot cheaper and more fun.

 

12. Dickens on the Strand - I can't remember exactly at this moment, but I think the festival started in the early 80s. Going to that festival is when I fell in love with Galveston. My one high school memory was taking an exchange student from Sweden to that festival. I think she rather enjoyed it!

 

13.  Hubby will remember KLOL Stevens & Pruitt in the morning more than I will. I remember KIKK. We Houstonians weren't redneck C&W fans, we were KIKKers!!

 

14. Anyone remember the Eyes of Texas programs? After Marvin Zindler, Ray Miller and Ron Stone were two of my favorite Houstonians.

 

15. And I too remember visiting NASA before it became a Disney Theme Park. I recently took some visitors there and told them about my memories of growing up going on school field trips where they would park the buses in the parking lot where all the other employees parked and just turn us loose to wander around the NASA campus. I remember sitting in Mission Control whenever there was a mission going on and marveling at what the people were doing. 

 

Well I know thats more than what was asked for, but I couldnt help sharing my memories!!

[Sharon]

On 8/5/2009 at 0:34 PM, crunchtastic said:

I see your Confetti and Power Tools and raise you a Cardi's and Island!

Ah, someone else with fond memorires of the Caribana. I remember 3 for 1 drinks there, and

'New Wave' nights on Tues or Wed--can't remember which.

Add to the list:

Phi Slama Jama

The Old Kemah drawbridge

Ale House

shows at Rockefeller's

Ah yes, Cardis, met my first love there......And The OP(Old Plantation)...on West Alabama, I think? 

Edited August 17, 2017 by Sharon
Remembered the op!

[trymahjong]

Reading this made me think how much I miss the pipe organ pizza in memorial city...... what happened to that pipe organ after that place closed.

 

another memory sparked a small restaurant 

 La Grenouille Verte out in Memorial are, where we'd go to celebrate an anniversary.

 

but also the number of people who just stood at each intersection downtown, the light would change and no one moved just stood there. Oh and the number of mounted patrol downtown.

[pamlovestea]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 10:30 PM, mollusk said:

 

There are those who would suggest that the bars are adult entertainment... 

 

As for Texas Commerce Tower / Chase / 600 Travis... at the time of the photo it's topped out.  It's reinforced concrete / steel composite; by 1980 they were cladding it with granite and glass.

 

IIRC, behind the photographer would have been The Pink Pussycat.

I worked downtown in the early eighties at the Golden Stein , just down the street, I remember the Pink puppy cat but never went there

[forever123]

1.  Gabs

2.  Struts

3.  Cardi's

4. Astrodome

5. Concerts

 

Would love to know someone that remembers Gabs.  No one seems to remember it, but there were 2 of them.

[lockmat]

What will be the "10 cool things about Houston the 00's" in 30 years?

[Timoric]

-

Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric

[Subdude]

21 hours ago, forever123 said:

1.  Gabs

2.  Struts

3.  Cardi's

4. Astrodome

5. Concerts

 

Would love to know someone that remembers Gabs.  No one seems to remember it, but there were 2 of them.

Where was it?

[Reefmonkey]

I've been thinking about the negativity about the 80s some have expressed in this thread. I remember when I was a kid someone explaining to me nostalgia meaning "remembering the good and forgetting the bad." I'm not sure what the word is for the opposite of nostalgia (forgetting the good and remembering the bad), but I think that's what's going on here. Things really didn't get bad until 1986, and by 1988-89, they were picking back up again. Every decade has its low point, and condemning an entire 10 year period for a 2-3 year nadir is a bit unfair.

 

On the issue of Houston's murder rate, this was happening at a time when crime was at an all-time high around the country (peaking in 1992). Still, white flight had already largely occurred, most murders were happening in low income areas within the city limits, so the average middle class and above Greater Houstonian wasn't worried about being murdered in his own backyard. Unlike cities like LA and Miami, where the crime was more evenly distributed. My grandfather, for instance, was pistolwhipped in his own backyard in Coral Gables, the West U of Miami, in 1988.

 

1986 really was the watershed year for Houston, because though the price of oil had been declining since 82, 86 was the precipitous price drop, and it occurred at the same time the Tax Reform Act of 1986 eliminated the tax shelters for passive real estate development, even wiping them out retroactively. Suddenly deals done years earlier were much less, bursting the Texas real estate market bubble of the 70s-early 80s, and helping initiate the S&L crisis.

 

So 1986, that watershed year, cleaved Old Houston from New Houston. It precipitated a lot of Old Houston institutions going out of business, like Sakowitz and Jamail's Grocers. Sadly, Houston lost a lot of its unique local character, and New Houston became culturally a lot more like most other major cities - we went from Urban Cowboy to Reality Bites, but it can be argued that this change made Houston more attractive to transplants from other parts of the country, and allowed the city to become as international and cosmopolitan as it is today. But coming back to the "pre-1986" Houston, I think it is worth reminiscing over, because it was the apogee and last gasp of high flying, unique Old Houston culture.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Reefmonkey

[Sharon]

On 8/5/2009 at 12:34 PM, crunchtastic said:

I see your Confetti and Power Tools and raise you a Cardi's and Island!

Ah, someone else with fond memorires of the Caribana. I remember 3 for 1 drinks there, and

'New Wave' nights on Tues or Wed--can't remember which.

Add to the list:

Phi Slama Jama

The Old Kemah drawbridge

Ale House

shows at Rockefeller's

I think Cardi's has its own thread. It was past cool-it was legendary!!!

[Rochelle]

A few minutes late to the party

°Don's Record Shop

°The OP (some may know this)

°Int'l House of Pies

°Monterey House

°Alabama Theater still had "virgin showings" of RHPS before it converted to a bookstore

°Kip's Big Boy

°Goofy's Game room

°Theater Under the Dark (the park over by the zoo) had Shakespearean week every spring

°The Renaissance Faire near Hempstead

°Del Oreo Farms in Hempstead (ok, I digress)

°The Farmer's Market off Airline

°Briargrove theater became a dollar theater

°Lots of jazz clubs off Grey Street (I saw Kirk Whalum & The Fabulous Thunderbirds before they were a household name)

°Zaravas, Zahavas? Disco on Richmond out of the loop

°The 2nd Office Club Disco was painfully bad

°Sami's Restaurant before it went belly up

°Square Pan Pizza had antipasto salad that no one can rival to this day

°All the 4th, memorial & labor day parades & air shows

°Foleys had the most magical window displays at Christmas--animated dolls each had a theme at every window

°Fingers Furniture

Demontrond Buick was hhuuggee

(I was 17-18-ish in 79)

LOL everything is still noted as in or out of the loop

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Rochelle
Typo

[Jim R]

On 8/6/2009 at 1:32 PM, gto250us said:

I also remember the San Antone Rose on Voss and the Parlor near Fairview and Mandel maybe? It burned down.

I worked at the San Antone Rose! I was just out of college in 1980. and was their parking lot attendant until May 1981.

[Djdrew]

On 4/4/2011 at 7:14 AM, Genesis said:

San Antonio Rose and Bullwhip were the happening C&W bars in the 80's.

I was one of the DJ's at the Bullwhip and on Sunday we would go out to the San Antonio Rose for quarter drink's and dancing they were both great places to hang out 

[Kasper]

On 6/10/2019 at 12:02 PM, Sharon said:

I think Cardi's has its own thread. It was past cool-it was legendary!!!

Every few years I wax nostalgic about growing up in TX, early teens thru mid 20's in Houston in particular, so I'll have to look up the Cardi's thread. It was the official first "adult" bar I ever went to with my own ID & was able to drink (albeit not exactly legally) . Saw the Outfield there in '86 which was an all-ages show but the drinking age was still 18 at the time so when the show was over apparently my buddy & I looked 18 & they didn't hassle us to leave with the the other kids. 

And of course followed that by the weekly Westheimer cruise, since we were in the neighborhood & all.

[Kasper]

On 8/12/2009 at 7:53 PM, Gary said:

I remember a club called "The Fizz" on Richmond (about a block east of Fondren) that was so hot they had people being bussed in. I also seem to remember that it was before exctasy was made illegal and they would have the pills in glass bowls before you walked in the door. Of course my memory may be a little fuzzy on that one.

Fizz became Hippo's, which then hopped on the new wave/industrial dance craze with a Sunday nights only residence called 'Club 6400'. Which of course went over so well it became the world-famous club full time. 

"The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire!

We don't need no water let the motherf-er burn!"

[Kasper]

Bandwagon, late entry but the Debbie Downer(s) fired me up. Can't say enough good things about all the (mostly) innocent fun we had in the 80's all over Houston & the surrounding towns...every place was THE place to be with the right attitude. As a mid-to-late teen with rose-colored goggles firmly in place, here's my top 10 100 wrapped up in bunches:

• I wasn't bar/club age yet in '84-85ish so a couple of the under age venues like BJ's on Dairy Ashford & Carz on Katy Fwy & even NRG in the early days (anyone else see Rupaul or Dead Or Alive there??). Then a plethora of emerging dance clubs crossing over into the wave & industrial genre right at my peak age & interest on the back half of the decade when I could slide by looking "old enough" or "knowing people" & then actually turning 18:  NRG, Xcess, Numbers, Rich's, Homage/Limelight/Red Square (hung out with Depeche Mode there in '89), Club SOME/EMOS, Power Tools (actually worked there in the early 90's), 6400, road trips to Starck Club & others in Dallas. Not to mention countless hours talking music with Bruce & the guys at Record Rack, buying whatever new bomb track we heard the night before & the latest releases coming thru the best record store in the state. 
• The FOOD! I gather it's still quite the mecca of cuisine because of the insane diversity there but man, you could eat like a king on very little money quite literally 24/7, pick your regional flavor. Most memorable are the after hour places like Mai's downtown, House of Guys, One's A Meal (correct me if I'm wrong but was it Biba's, right??), La Jalicience on Montrose. Or whichever Denny's or JoJo's was closest to the club we just left...seems like no matter which one you ended up at, there were a bunch of people you knew from the scene so there was always an after party getting planned. Hard to believe how small that big ass became so fast in short a short time.
• The Malls! Another place you could kill hours & spend very little money meeting up with friends, cruising chicks & meeting tons of people from other schools. The Galleria was a fave for the ice rink, arcade & general people watching/meeting, but also because we had a way to get to the roof of Galleria III to hang out all night, drink & listen to music without getting hassled (SEE PIC..Z Cavaricci flames absolutely appropriate!). Even found a way INTO the mall to aimlessly wander the halls window shopping after closing (until actual indoor security started walking the mall...which then became a game). Those polished marble & granite floors were the best rollerblading surfaces imaginable. Poor Blart didn't have a chance then!
• Cruising Westheimer, of course. Endless weekend hours some would say wasted but I learned a helluva lot about people, class structure, social awareness & tolerance on that strip. Absolute priceless 4-year degree at Street Smarts University.
• Being close to the coast. Galveston was a second home for so long, always someone's beach house or a group of us cramming into a condo on school days off, holiday weekends, etc. And of course, close enough to South Padre for Spring Break to make the trip worthwhile. A couple of my spring break weeks there actually lasted TWO!
• Astrodome & Astroworld. These places basically became my parents' nanny pre-drivers license days. Mom would drop us off for a $5 Oilers or Astros game & get the next 3 hours free, or at the gate of Astroworld at opening for about 12 hours of no-kid bliss in the summers. Season passes & $20 went a LONG way back in the day.
• Countless concerts (from Kool & The Gang to George Straight to U2) & other shenanigans at The Dome, including many Live Stock Show & Rodeo days. Probably isn't a section of seats I haven't parked my ass in at some point btwn 1980 & '96 when Bud Adams eloped to Tennessee (I moved to Austin a year later). Even played a HS football playoff game there in '85.
• Concerts at Astroworld's Southern Star Amphitheater: Cheap Trick in '84 (the first actual large concert I bought a ticket for) & Billy Idol the same year (no ticket, we peeped/listened through/over the fence & rode Greased Lightening right next to it at least a dozen times to catch a glimpse of the stage for that 2 second hangtime before freefalling backwards around the loop again), OMD & Depeche Mode in '88
• Concerts at The Summit. My mom worked for the property mgmt firm that handled the venue & had a whole primo section of seats just for employees/friends/families so I basically lived there in the 80s & 90s. The most memorable ones of this particular decade were:
  • 1984 - Springsteen Born in the USA & Van Halen's 1984
  • 1985 - Prince's Purple Rain tour, Beastie Boys getting boo'd offstage opening for Madonna's Virgin Tour
  • 1986 - David Lee Roth/Cinderella, Journey, Peter Gabriel
  • 1987 - The Cult, Def Leppard, Bowie, Beastie Boys (again) this time headlining w/Run DMC & also where all 6 of us in my car had our first brush with the law for 'Minor In Possession'...$50 ticket for underage beer drinking in the parking garage before the show: "Here's your ticket, enjoy the show!" The real tragedy was actually forcing us to dump all the beer that was in the trunk. Easily 3 cases. #firstworldprobs
  • 1988 - INXS/PIL, U2, David Lee Roth/Poison, KISS, Michael Jackson & Prince

I'm guessing my "era" had just a bit better timing for all of this to converge but I can't imagine I'd get anywhere near these life experiences anywhere else. People look at me weird when they ask me my favorite of the many cities I've lived in when I say Houston, but I always caveat that with "in the 80's".

Edited February 28, 2023 by Kasper

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

7 hours ago, Kasper said:

 

Cardi's

Saw the Outfield there in '86 which was an all-ages show but the drinking age was still 18 at the time so when the show was over apparently my buddy & I looked 18 & they didn't hassle us to leave with the the other kids. 

 

I was working at Cardi's at the time. In between the time we booked The Outfield and they played there, their video hit MTV. We booked them for a second show, which sold out immediately. One weird thing, the two shows were 8 days apart.

Part of my job that day was making sure their blind keyboard player Reg didn't fall off the loading dock behind the club.

 

Cardi's shut down 37 years ago today. I still miss the place.

[Pleak]

Colonial House Apartment ads.    - wanted to live there when I grew up to get the free VHS player.

[bugtoaster]

I dunno, it looks like the VCR would sustain water damage when the lady jumps out of the pool to give it to you.

[yak23flora]

Ahh the 80s. I graduated high school in '86 and went to UH for the rest of the 80s. I agree with some of you folks that being a jobless student colors my view of the 80s. I watched my dad's pump and compressor business go bust with the oil downturn, and saw him have to resort to selling cars. But my parents hung on. As for me, it was a wonderful decade. I remember feeling safe enough even in places where I probably shouldn't have been. Cruising Westheimer, checking out the bum camps under downtown bridges, sneaking into concerts at the Summit (you could if you knew the ways in). Astroworld for hours on end, all the things everyone has said. I loved it. I just read this whole thread - thanks for the memories.

[H-Town Genius]

Tropical Storm Allison in 1989 (not to be confused with the 2001 storm). I was born just hours after that storm hit.